HOW DID GOD QUALIFY YOU? - PART 3

WEDNESDAY 19 OCTOBER 2022

God's qualification is instrumental in building up the saints, enabling them to participate in their inheritance and bear His glory without blame. The saints are built on the foundation, namely Christ, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail, and are qualified by grace to exercise their faith and increase in spiritual strength and growth. When our understandings become more enlightened about our qualification, our perspective about God and our faith is upgraded which in turn affords us a quality and glorious life in Christ.

Reference: Colossians 1:12-13 Amplified Bible (AMP) "Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints (God's people) in the Light. For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son."

Beloved, our qualification is entirely ascribed to the power and grace of God. And God achieved its aim by rescuing us from the Kingdom of darkness, drawing us to Himself and transferring us to the Kingdom of light. It's also very important to notice that God has already drawn us to Himself in Christ Jesus. So the need to have a prayer point such as "draw me nearer to you oh Lord" is entirely a waste of time and energy. God has already done it through Christ. All you need is to recognise the union and inextricable oneness you have with Christ and function in that consciousness because the Bible says, "But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13 NLT).

To that effect, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, "But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him" (NLT). So when you feel the need to draw near to God, you can rely on this verse to engage the Spirit of God and stay above such feelings because Paul stated it clearly beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are one with the Lord, and not far from Him. Also it would be impossible to express a stronger conviction of this truth than he had done here in the book of 1st Corinthians. In a nutshell, his language could not be clearer, and nothing can be more unequivocal than the declaration and acknowledgement of the truth that in Christ Jesus, we are never far from God.

The next truth in our referenced Scripture is that God transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, which is the Kingdom of light. Therefore, Ephesians 5:8 says, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (NKJV). The Syriac version, the amplified Bible and its classic edition indeed render it as "leading the life of those who are native-born to the Light." This is an instruction that forms the basis of our Christian faith. So we must not just keep the instruction in mind and memory, but also ruminate upon it until it becomes our way of life. By this I mean that the only guaranteed way to walk in light is to meditate on the Word till we are enwrapped in the precepts, the promises and the principles and assuredly, they will begin to unfold themselves in our lifestyles, without needing any other outside force or opinion.

To walk as children of light, firstly recognise that the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirits that we are the children of God. In other words, as children in the first place, learn to know and study your parent (God, your heavenly Father), so you can attain an accurate knowledge of Him, of His light and His willingness and power to support, strengthen and lead you by His Spirit. Therefore walking as children of light by leading the life of those who are native-born to the light, means, "yielding to the care of the Spirit so as to conduct yourselves at all times as God's loving and obedient children." Beloved, God has qualified us as children of light and has begun a good work in our lives by the Spirit, and it can only get better as we continue to walk in the light. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Isaiah 9:2; John 1:5; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Peter 2:9.

Exuberant Declaration: The Spirit of God witnesses with my spirit that I am the child of light. I'm native-born to the light and I lead the life of light with the greatest vigour of the Spirit. I always prevail against the powers of darkness because I function by the strength of the Spirit. Praise God!